The relatively new method of taking pictures of worrying spots on the skin and sending them to experts has yielded results.
Since the method was introduced, the waiting time and the number of unnecessary operations have decreased.
Skin cancer, or malignant melanoma, is one of the fastest growing cancers in Sweden. Anyone who has skin changes that are worrying or itchy and growing should turn to healthcare to check them out.
Dermatologists, doctors who specialize in the skin, are the ones who have the expert knowledge to assess whether a change should be investigated further or not. But getting time for one can take time. In the Stockholm Region, a new method has been introduced for the past year, where the general practitioner at a health center takes pictures of the patient’s skin and sends them to skin experts. The method, teledermatoscopy, has proven to be a success.
Suspected cancer is found
– It has shortened the waiting times and also led to fewer operations being unnecessary, says Elinor Nemlander, specialist in general medicine and project manager at the Academic Primary Care Center in the Stockholm Region.
When the doctor at the health center sees a suspected skin change and cannot determine for himself if it is cancer, he takes pictures with a special mobile phone. The images are sent via a special system to two different dermatologists.
Within seven days, answers will come, faster if the specialists have a strong suspicion of cancer. Of the more than 4,000 cases that have so far been examined with the method, just over 200 skin spots that are suspected to be cancer have been found. At the same time, just over 80 percent have been able to be acquitted without surgery or other follow-up.
Those who need are referred to a dermatologist and in some cases it is required that the skin change is removed surgically to be analyzed and find out if it is cancer or not. Skin changes are still removed which then turn out not to be cancer. But that’s just fine, according to Elinor Nemlander
“Traps rather than frias”
– If all the changes we operate on were cancer, we would be worried that we missed some. It takes a little margin and we would rather fall than suit when it comes to cancer, she says.
The fact that it is faster to get answers also means less time in uncertainty for those who have discovered a skin change.
– During the pandemic, fewer patients have sought care to check for their skin changes and we suspect that there are cases of malignant melanoma that have not been detected. It is good that we have a faster way of working now to meet the need, says Elinor Nemlander.
Teledermatoscopy is available in different variants and extents in several regions. Many have it as standard at health centers, others are underway or have introduced it on a smaller scale.
Facts
Skin cancer
In 2020, 4,300 people were diagnosed with malignant melanoma
The number of cases has doubled during the 2000s. Early detection of melanoma is crucial for survival in the disease.
It is therefore important to pay early attention to skin changes and to turn to healthcare for examination.
Malignant melanoma is a skin cancer that can be cured if the change is detected in time.
Source: Cancer Foundation, 1177
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